


The Ringer

by realityisoverrated



Series: Infinite Love [112]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, M/M, Polyamory, Polyfidelity, Smoaking billionaires, Toliver, flommy, olicity - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-31
Updated: 2017-05-31
Packaged: 2018-11-07 02:37:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11049540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/realityisoverrated/pseuds/realityisoverrated
Summary: Team Arrow gets an assist from a four-year-old genius.





	The Ringer

**Author's Note:**

> This story depicts a polyamorous relationship between one woman and two men. If this is not something you are interested in, please stop and go no further. 
> 
> Happy Birthday, IcannotbelieveIamhere!
> 
> This installment is 85/112. .  
> 1\. Penguinbreak (104)  
> 2\. Beautiful Stranger (Part 28)  
> 3\. The Hack of the Golden Dragon (Part 36)  
> 4\. Two Lights (Part 96)  
> 5\. Girl Wednesday (Part 41)  
> 6\. This Time Last Year (Part 44)  
> 7\. We’ve Got Tonight (Part 85)  
> 8\. Five Nights, Five Conversations (Part 105)  
> 9\. The First Time (Part 1)  
> 10\. Distraction (Part 95)  
> 11\. The Interim CEO (Part 88)  
> 12\. Aloe and Chamomile (Part 40)  
> 13\. The Italian Restaurant (Part 3)  
> 14\. Ground Rules (Part 43)  
> 15\. Do The Hustle (Part 21)  
> 16\. The Secret Ingredient (Part 65)  
> 17\. Wherever You Are, There I Am (Part 8)  
> 18\. Test and Adjust (Part 102)  
> 19\. Perfect (Part 16)  
> 20\. Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (Part 49)  
> 21\. Practical Jokes and Other Misunderstandings (Part 14)  
> 22\. Incentives (Part 93)  
> 23\. Cobble Hill (Part 4)  
> 24\. The Sunnybrook (Part 51)  
> 25\. House Warming (Part 15)  
> 26\. 30 (Part 30)  
> 27\. Hong Kong (Part 35)  
> 28\. Twenty Questions Over Brunch (Part 11)  
> 29\. When A Kiss Is Not A Kiss (Part 86) (  
> 30\. Hildy (Part 5)  
> 31\. Burgers & Lies (Part 9)  
> 32\. You Say You Want A Revolution (Part 22)  
> 33\. Unexpected Gifts (Part 70)  
> 34\. Look Me In The Eye And Make Me Feel The Truth (Part 12)  
> 35\. Fight Night (Part 20)  
> 36\. Fear and Loathing (Part 42)  
> 37\. With The Band (Part 53)  
> 38\. The Scarecrow (Part 59)  
> 39\. An Island Of His Own Making (Part 74)  
> 40\. Pas de Deux (Part 75)  
> 41\. Take It Back (Part 76)  
> 42\. Alumni Of The Year (Part 90)  
> 43\. What Happens In Vegas (Part 107)  
> 44\. May The Course Be With You (Part 110)  
> 45\. Into Thin Air (Part 17)  
> 46\. Moonlighting (part 98)  
> 47\. Haunted (Part 58)  
> 48\. It Sings To Me (Part 84)  
> 49\. Ask Me And I’ll Tell You No Lies (Part 94)  
> 50\. Let The Sun Shine (Part 92)  
> 51\. It’s Just Like Falling (Part 27)  
> 52\. Will You Still Love Me, Tomorrow? (Part 7)  
> 53\. Life With The Arrow (Part 23)  
> 54\. Rendezvous With Destiny (Part 101)  
> 55\. Up All Night (Part 6)  
> 56\. Welcome Home (Part 10)  
> 57\. Deadshot (Part 62)  
> 58\. Better Than Chocolate Chip Banana Pancakes (Part 24)  
> 59\. The Right To Remain Silent (Part 61)  
> 60\. Home Is Where You Are (Part 2)  
> 61\. Somebody Get A Hammer (Part 26)  
> 62\. Tush Push (Part 48)  
> 63\. If You Don’t Have Something Nice To Say (Part 108)  
> 64\. Elves (Part 68)  
> 65\. Three (Part 13)  
> 66\. Life Lived In The Tabloids (Part 18)  
> 67\. Baby Talk (Part 91)  
> 68\. Tokyo Calling (Part 25)  
> 69\. Something Blue (Part 39)  
> 70\. I Do. I Do. I Do. (Part 82)  
> 71\. Prudence Chastity (Part 19)  
> 72\. Love Is Worth It In The End (Part 33)  
> 73\. The Mini (Part 38)  
> 74\. The Hall of Fame (Part 46)  
> 75\. A Name By Any Other (Part 47)  
> 76\. False Alarms (Part 111)  
> 77\. The Drop Out (Part 32)  
> 78\. Homework (Part 64)  
> 79\. The Investigation (Part 97)  
> 80\. Count Your Blessings (Part 71)  
> 81\. William (Part 29)  
> 82\. Hold On For One More Day (Part 31)  
> 83\. I Have No Gifts To Bring (Part 72)  
> 84\. Rebecca (Part 99)  
> 85\. The Ringer (Part 112)  
> 86\. Yours, Mine, Ours (Part 37)  
> 87\. Rules Are Made To Be Broken (Part 55)  
> 88\. The Forty-Year-Old Graduate (Part 78)  
> 89\. Take Me Out To The Ballgame (Part 83)  
> 90\. Hope Is Believing In The Light When All You See Is Darkness (Part 52)  
> 91\. Emma (Part 77)  
> 92\. Open Up And Say Ah (Part 60)  
> 93\. Tommy Merlyn’s No Good, Very Bad, Terrible Day (Part 81)  
> 94\. The Magician’s Final Disappearing Act (Part 100)  
> 95\. Amazing Grace (Part 103)  
> 96\. I Would Not Trade What Might Have Been For What Is (Part 50)  
> 97\. Brothers (Part 45)  
> 98\. Saturdays With The Green Arrow (Part 34)  
> 99\. True Love (Part 87)  
> 100\. Hallelujah (Part 69)  
> 101\. The Green Arrow Did It (Part 73)  
> 102\. Strawberry Milkshake With A Side Of Why (Part 56)  
> 103\. All About The Jeans (Part 54)  
> 104\. A Bunny For Prue (Part 63)  
> 105\. Day 107 (Part 67)  
> 106\. Genius Child (Part 89)  
> 107\. The Four Questions (Part 109)  
> 108\. We Belong (Part 106)  
> 109\. Boys Who Kiss Boys Who Kiss Girls Who Kiss Boys Who Kiss Boys (Part 57)  
> 110\. Scars (Part 79)  
> 111\. Tummy Aches and Heart Aches (Part 66)  
> 112\. Gut Punch (Part 80)
> 
> Arrow and its characters do not belong to me.

Artwork by ligiapimenta

 

A fire blazed in the fireplace and cast a warm glow over the living room. Oliver sat on the floor with Bobby on his lap as they examined their Scrabble tiles. The family was enjoying a lazy Sunday morning together.

Bobby slid their tiles around on the coffee table as he reordered the letters. Tommy craned his neck to make it look like he was trying to see what letters they had. Bobby cradled his arm protectively around the tiles and scolded, “No peeking, da.”

Tommy winked at his son, “I was just stretching.”

“Eyes to yourself,” Bobby admonished his dad.

“Are you sure you want to be on daddy’s team?” Tommy asked casually as he moved around his own tiles. “I have some good letters.”

Bobby’s tongue was sticking from the side of his mouth as he continued to sort his tiles. He looked up, “Yes, I’m sure. I’m on daddy’s team. Becca’s on your team and Hildy’s on mommy’s.”

Oliver chuckled as his husband and wife took a look at their Scrabble partners. Becca was curled up against Hildy and they were both sound asleep on the floor between Felicity and Tommy.

“What letter are you up to in the dictionary?” Tommy teased his son.

Bobby grinned and puffed up, “ _P_.”

“Babe,” Tommy stage whispered to Felicity, “only play words with letters that come after, _p_.”

Bobby tilted his head as he studied Tommy and Felicity. He turned in Oliver’s lap to look at his dad and stage whispered, “They better hope they get some, _u’s_ , or they won’t have any vowels to use.” He turned back to face Tommy and Felicity and in a perfect imitation of his da, he smiled and waggled his eyebrows.

Felicity let out a little snort and bit her lip to keep herself from laughing. Bobby waggled his eyebrows again and Felicity was unable to keep her laughter in. The sound burst out of her and she doubled over.

When Felicity had begun to regain control and sat up straight, Bobby reached for Tommy, “You do it too, da.”

Tommy and Bobby sent Felicity matching smiles and their eyebrows danced on their foreheads. Felicity fell onto her side laughing.

Oliver began to tickle his son, “Is that what you and your dad do all day? Think of ways to make mommy laugh?”

“Yes,” Bobby said through his laughter as he squirmed to get away from Oliver’s relentless fingers.

Hildy lifted her head to see what all the laughing was about, but when she didn’t see anyone eating anything, she put her head back down and closed her eyes. Becca, who had inherited her mom’s gift to sleep through anything, didn’t even stir.

When everyone stopped laughing, Oliver tapped their tiles, “What do you think, little man? Do we have our word?”

Bobby got up onto his knees and began to lay his tiles out across the board, “M-U - Z - J - I - K – S.” He smiled proudly as he returned to Oliver’s lap. He silently challenged his other parents with the cock of one eyebrow.

Tommy arched his brow right back, “Use it in a sentence.”

“There aren’t any muzjiks in Moscow,” Bobby informed his dad.

Oliver laughed, “He’s right. There aren’t any peasants in Moscow.”

Felicity became instantly suspicious, “Are you teaching our son Russian, or, - did you buy him a Scrabble dictionary?”

Oliver squirmed under the gazes of his spouses. He had, in fact, given their son a Scrabble dictionary – but only because Bobby asked for one when he saw one at their weekly visit to the bookstore.

“Did your daddy buy you a Scrabble dictionary?” Felicity asked their four-year-old.

Bobby shrugged his shoulders and blinked innocently at his mother.

“That’s it,” Tommy placed a fourth rack on the table. “You,” he pointed at Bobby, “take your rack and sit over there.”

“But, I’m playing with daddy,” Bobby frowned.

“You can play your own rack,” Tommy smiled as he shook the bag of tiles for Oliver to draw from.

Bobby lifted the box and showed it to Tommy, “It’s says for eight and up. I’m not eight. I have to play with daddy.”

“I think he got you there,” Felicity informed Tommy.

Oliver smiled innocently as he watched Tommy’s internal struggle. He knew his husband wanted to tell Bobby they could make an exception for Scrabble, but that would almost guarantee Bobby challenging them on the recommended ages for video games and movies. Tommy frequently used the ages on boxes to deter Bobby. Their eldest was a stickler for the rules.

A heavy sigh escaped Tommy’s lips, “Fine, you can play with daddy.”

Bobby smiled and looked up at Oliver, “Don’t worry daddy, we’ll win.”

 

“I can’t believe you used our four-year-old as a ringer,” Tommy pouted as he stirred pasta into boiling water.

“Our wife taught me long ago to always build a team with people smarter than me,” Oliver winked.

Tommy looked over at their wife who was on the sofa nursing Becca as Bobby sat on the floor moving Scrabble tiles on the coffee table and then writing on a sheet of paper in purple crayon. “How did we end up with a genius for a son?”

Oliver followed Tommy’s line of sight and grinned, “Not a clue. Thank god for Felicity’s gene pool.”

Tommy set the timer and followed Oliver over to the family room. He sat down next to Felicity, “What are you working on, little man?”

Bobby’s tongue was sticking out and he was tapping the fingers of his left hand against his thumb, “A puzzle.”

Tommy leaned forward to see what his son was working on. Usually he tapped his fingers when he was doing math. He expected to see a book of sudoku, but instead he saw evidence from Team Arrow’s current case. Not wanting to alarm his son, he leaned back and casually said, “Hey, Ollie. Isn’t that from work?”

Tommy watched as the color drained from Oliver’s face. Starling’s latest criminal mastermind used a word cypher that Felicity had yet to crack. Oliver moved from the sofa to sit beside Bobby on the floor, “Hey, little man, why don’t you draw me something?” He pushed the box of crayons closer to Bobby’s hand.

“Sshh, daddy. I’m solving mommy’s puzzle for her,” Bobby said without looking up from what he was writing with his crayon.

Felicity lifted her eyes from Becca, “What’s he working on?”

“The puzzle Quentin gave you,” Oliver said with a small look of panic on his face.

“Oh,” Felicity sat up quickly and her nipple fell from Becca’s mouth, causing their daughter to whimper. She guided her nipple back to Becca and then redirected her focus to her son, “Bobby, that’s not a fun puzzle. Let’s do something else.”

Bobby waved Felicity off as he continued to write.

“Robert,” Oliver said sternly and covered Bobby’s hand.

Bobby lifted his head with confusion, “I’m almost done.”

“You are?” Felicity asked with surprise.

Bobby nodded and pulled his hand free from Oliver’s, “It was a good puzzle, but I figured it out.”

“You did?” Felicity carefully moved to the edge of the sofa so she could get a better look at what Bobby was writing.

He smiled broadly and handed the paper to Felicity, “I solved it. The answer is kind of silly.”

Oliver craned his head and peered over the top of the paper, “Is he right?”

Felicity’s eyes scanned across the paper and she began to laugh, “He’s right. I can’t believe I missed it. According to this, it’s down the coast at the old battery installment. Good job, baby.”

“Tommy?” Oliver asked. Per their agreement, Sundays belonged to the family.

Tommy sighed. Oliver and Felicity had been looking for this guy for weeks and this was their first workable lead. “Yeah, all right.”

Oliver placed a kiss to the top of Bobby’s head and rose to his feet, “I’ll call Dig.” He leaned over and kissed Becca, Felicity and then Tommy.

Felicity pulled her phone from her pocket, “I’ll call Roy.”

“I’ll need eyes in the sky,” Oliver shouted to her as he ran for the front door.

The timer went off and made Tommy jump. Bobby was looking at him with confusion. He held out his hand, “Come on little man, time for lunch.”

“Did I solve the puzzle?” Bobby took Tommy’s hand.

“Yeah, you solved it,” Tommy said with equal parts pride and dismay. He wasn’t too thrilled that his baby had just unwittingly participated in his first Team Arrow mission.

“Da, are you mad?” Bobby climbed onto a kitchen stool.

“I’m not mad,” Tommy smiled shakily.

“You’re wearing your mad face,” Bobby pointed out.

Felicity placed a cloth on Tommy’s shoulder and handed him Becca to burp so she could go down to the basement and become Overwatch.

“It’s not my mad face, it’s my thinking face,” Tommy tried to reassure his son. His blood ran cold with the thought that one day it might be Bobby running out the door to facedown criminals with a bow and arrow. “Muzjiks. That was a really good word.”

Bobby rested his chin on his hands and grinned, “I’ll let you borrow my Scrabble dictionary.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. Kudos and comments are always welcomed and appreciated. Hearing from you is my favorite part of the day.
> 
> I've run out of characters in the opening notes. I might need to do a standalone table of contents posting. I'm open to other solutions.
> 
> This is a birthday present for IcannotbelieveIamhere. She requested an installment where young Bobby inadvertently helps solve a problem for Team Arrow. Happy Birthday! I'm glad you stumbled upon this verse and took a chance. I've enjoyed every single comment you've sent me. Thank you for being you. Have a wonderful birthday.
> 
> Back to work today. Why aren't we all billionaires?
> 
> Prompt requests are encouraged.
> 
> You can also come say hi to me on tumblr. http://realityisoverrated-fic.tumblr.com


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